Page 132 - It's a Rum Life Book 3 "Ivy House Tales 1970 to 1984"

We had already had one excursion into transport with the initial boat transport business
and this was developed to involve my knowledge in the tyre industry. The result was to
control our lives for another ten years or so.

UNIROYAL
They say a bit of luck goes a long way and the fact that Uniroyal, a large European tyre
manufacturer began to take on clients that I had originally serviced with Firestone opened
a huge door for our family.
We are looking at Lincolnshire mainly in this illustration and the largest independent tyre
distributor/retailer in the 1970’s was Fossitt and Thorne.
Their retail depots extended from Barton Humber in the far north of the county to Long
Sutton, Bourne. Peterborough in Cambridgeshire and even into Norfolk at Downham
Market.
Harry Thorne was still very much the boss. As my largest client with Firestone, his
company had dominated most of my time in previous years. Mutual support had been all
part of the job. Backup and close contact with the user through the tyre supplier was my
everyday task. As well as meeting critical sales targets too of course!

Really would like to include some historical photographs of Fossitt and Thorne in the
1970’s here but with their demise after harry Thorne died..........everything seems to have
gone too.

Harry had not forgotten these halcyon days and when Uniroyal approached him for
business and explained how they intended delivering their tyres he simply said, “If you
want my business then this man will deliver the tyres!”
“This man” was myself and such a huge piece of luck could not be imagined.
Uniroyal were setting up “stocking points” around the UK to hold stocks of their product
and deliver to clients on a regular basis.
Providing a distribution service throughout the County second to none, had been part of
my task at Firestone for many years and afterwards our developing family business
collecting complaint commercial tyres had maintained my close connections within the
trade.

Uniroyal actually began to happen.
We negotiated terms and agreed to
use the premises we had already
established at Ivy House.
New distribution vehicles were
ordered and extra staff taken on.
Uniroyal already used this
independent stocking points system
in Europe and it was to France that
we chose to go when offered the
chance to visit existing stockists and
learn first hand all about how the
system worked.

THE CAR
Rennes the capital of Brittany was a natural first as there was a long established stocking
point there and it was the home of Ruth’s longest continuous “pen pal” contact.

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